Just a quick update from
last week:
My team arrived fine Monday night. They almost missed their flight, and only two had missing luggage. We had it taken care of and Delta delivered it to the house. Tuesday, the team relaxed after the long day before. In the afternoon, we visited the orphanage. The teenage boys were a little unsure of how to interact with the kids, but soon jumped right in. Tuesday night, we went to the service at Pastor Juan's church in Carmen Lyra. It was a great experience for everyone. Wednesday morning, we arranged to have a man cut boards for the desk project we would be working on at the pastor's church. Wednesday, we also went to the school in Carmen Lyra and painted all afternoon. Wednesday night, we attended the service at Messenger of Hope. Thursday, we went back to the school at 9 to do a program with the kids. It was very different and the kids were scattered into groups, but it went pretty well. After the program the kids left for the day and we continued painting. After we finished painting there, around 1, we went to the pastor's church in Guyabo to work on repairing the desks. We worked up their for a couple hours before returning back to the house. It seemed like an impossible task to sand, paint and have the new boards put on the desks. Friday, we worked putting a varnish on the wood pieces. In the afternoon, we split the group in two. Half of us went to the church to finish sanding and painting all the metal desk frames and the other half stayed and finished varnishing and organizing the supplies. I went with the group to the church, and it was a miracle that we were able to sand and paint all of the desk and chairs in the one afternoon. Saturday, we had our free day. We ate breakfast in town and shopped. Then we went canyoning in the afternoon. Sunday, we attended church here, and after Indra and her family took us to a restaurant where you catch your own fish to have cooked. It was a lot of fun and very reasonable. Less than $80 for 13 people. That trip took most of the afternoon. Sunday evening, the team packed up and went to sleep early. They left here at 3AM for the airport.
I was very happy that this trip made a huge impact on several of the members. The one man that was in the group is a young Christian. He was brought to tears when talking about how his time here had changed him. Several others had the same experience and would be glad to go on another trip.
Yesterday (Wednesday) I went with carpenter to Pastor Juan's church to install the wood pieces on the desks and chairs. We left here at 7AM. The neighbors to the church fed us snacks and lunch. They are members of the pastor's church. We had to return to Turrialba to exchange some bolts and the neighbor gave us a ride there and back. We finished for the day around 5:30. Today, the carpenter went back to the church to finished a few of the chairs that were left.
My team arrived fine Monday night. They almost missed their flight, and only two had missing luggage. We had it taken care of and Delta delivered it to the house. Tuesday, the team relaxed after the long day before. In the afternoon, we visited the orphanage. The teenage boys were a little unsure of how to interact with the kids, but soon jumped right in. Tuesday night, we went to the service at Pastor Juan's church in Carmen Lyra. It was a great experience for everyone. Wednesday morning, we arranged to have a man cut boards for the desk project we would be working on at the pastor's church. Wednesday, we also went to the school in Carmen Lyra and painted all afternoon. Wednesday night, we attended the service at Messenger of Hope. Thursday, we went back to the school at 9 to do a program with the kids. It was very different and the kids were scattered into groups, but it went pretty well. After the program the kids left for the day and we continued painting. After we finished painting there, around 1, we went to the pastor's church in Guyabo to work on repairing the desks. We worked up their for a couple hours before returning back to the house. It seemed like an impossible task to sand, paint and have the new boards put on the desks. Friday, we worked putting a varnish on the wood pieces. In the afternoon, we split the group in two. Half of us went to the church to finish sanding and painting all the metal desk frames and the other half stayed and finished varnishing and organizing the supplies. I went with the group to the church, and it was a miracle that we were able to sand and paint all of the desk and chairs in the one afternoon. Saturday, we had our free day. We ate breakfast in town and shopped. Then we went canyoning in the afternoon. Sunday, we attended church here, and after Indra and her family took us to a restaurant where you catch your own fish to have cooked. It was a lot of fun and very reasonable. Less than $80 for 13 people. That trip took most of the afternoon. Sunday evening, the team packed up and went to sleep early. They left here at 3AM for the airport.
I was very happy that this trip made a huge impact on several of the members. The one man that was in the group is a young Christian. He was brought to tears when talking about how his time here had changed him. Several others had the same experience and would be glad to go on another trip.
Yesterday (Wednesday) I went with carpenter to Pastor Juan's church to install the wood pieces on the desks and chairs. We left here at 7AM. The neighbors to the church fed us snacks and lunch. They are members of the pastor's church. We had to return to Turrialba to exchange some bolts and the neighbor gave us a ride there and back. We finished for the day around 5:30. Today, the carpenter went back to the church to finished a few of the chairs that were left.
